It is common practice to use an auger assembly for the feeding of various kinds of materials. The auger assembly conventionally comprises a rotary shaft equipped with a helical flight or vane positioned within a tubular conduit into one end of which material is delivered for discharge through the opposite end. From time to time it may be necessary to make a change in the materials introduced to and fed through the tubular conduit. In most instances this requires the termination of the delivery of material to the one end of the conduit, followed by driving the auger for a sufficiently long period of time to discharge all material from the opposite end of the conduit. It is possible, therefore, for a substantially long period of time to be required to discharge the contents of the conduit. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a construction wherein the changeover from one material to another may occur substantially instantaneously.
In some installations it is advantageous to be able to vary the point at which materials are discharged from an auger housing. Apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention makes possible such a result in addition to enabling rapid changeover from one material to another.